Can I? part 2 of arc1
by Ravyn Skye
Summary: Sesshomaru decides he's had enough of Rin prefering Inuyasha to him, and makes a slight concession to gain the girl's favor.


I DON'T OWN INUYASHA

a/n: this is part 2 of arc 1

Rin: age 10 years.

"Can I?"…

Inuyasha looked at Kagome, who was giving him a look that said if he didn't comply with Rin's request, she would sit him until his grandkids had grass stains.

With a heavy sigh, and a defeated look he just bowed his head giving silent permission.

She clapped her hands and giggled with delight.

"Gently…" Inuyasha reminded her.

"Of…of course Inuyasha-sama."

She reverently reached out and grasped one of his ears between her fingers. Soon she was scratching, and Inuyasha had subconsciously leaned into her touch, panting slightly.

He almost looked disappointed when she released her hold.

When he opened his eyes and looked up he realized why she had stopped. His brother was standing over him, with a growl so low Inuyasha knew only he could hear it. He had been so into the little girl petting him that he hadn't even smelled, heard, or sensed his brother's approach!

"Rin, are you quite finished?" Sesshomaru asked, tone cool, but with an edge of something dangerous seeping into the words.

"Yes Sesshomaru-sama!" She had obviously missed the edge in his voice.

Inuyasha mumbled something about "chicks just dig the ears", as he watched the two leave the hut to walk back into the forest.

"Rin, why do you touch that hanyou's ears?"

"Because I like them! They are so cute! I wanted to pet them! They are so different from mine!"

"My ears are different from yours as well, but you do not seem to have the same interest, why?"

"Well, I do…but…"

"Continue Rin"

"I just know that _you'd _never let me touch _your_ ears, and I don't want you to get mad at me for asking… so I don't…"

The taiyoukai stopped abruptly, sat down, and held his hand out to the little girl.

"Rin, come."

She walked over to him, still unsure of what exactly was going on.

"You may touch me."

Her eyes widened in shock, and she looked up, worried she would overstep her bounds, and also, there was something else… was this a trick? Was he mad? He could hurt her so easily… even maybe on accident, she had seen his poison.

"You… won't hurt me? Even if I touched your claws?"

He understood her worry, and was reminded once again of the sharp intellect of this little child. She knew he could be poisonous to her, perhaps this was another reason she never asked to touch him? He hoped that was it, and at the same time hoped that wasn't it. He was mildly disturbed at the idea that Rin would be even the least bit afraid of him. He wanted her respect, commanded her obedience, but was appalled at the idea of being the cause of her fears.

"I have perfect control of my venom, Rin."

Steeling her resolve, she walked up to him and reverently held her hand out, moving slowly, the way a child might approach a wounded animal, giving him plenty of time to change his mind, or move away. When he did neither, she silently brushed a finger against the tip of his ear. Soon she became bolder with her actions, and touched not only his ears, but the markings on his face, his eyelids, his crescent moon…

She traced his claws, and he even bared his fangs for her to touch. She pricked her finger on the sharp canines and he quickly grabbed her wrist, and sucked her finger until the blood had clotted.

Then she moved somewhere that made him visibly tense. She had moved to his left shoulder, and down to where his arm was severed.

She looked up, fearful that she had finally overstepped her bounds, and only exhaled the breath she had been holding when he reached down, loosed his armor and pulled his haori and yukata to the side, giving her a full view of his injury. He was doing something for her that he had never done for another soul, he was exposing the evidence of his weakness. Showing her the results of a mistake on his part, producing the necessary evidence to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that not only was he not the god she regarded him as, he was also hopelessly flawed.

She reached out and tentatively touched the scar that ran around the connecting point of his new limb... where she had known it to be missing before.

She moved onto his lap and snuggled close to him, whispering to herself as much as to him,

"Sesshomaru-sama is so perfect…"

He allowed her to fall asleep on his lap, and he silently regarded this amazing little creature. His angel, his princess, _his Rin. _ He found he liked the sound of that, _his Rin_, perhaps a little more than he should; perhaps a little more than was appropriate for a "father" figure, although, he had to admit, he had never felt like her "father". A guardian, a protector, to some extent a provider, but never, _never_ a "father". Somehow, he knew that she felt the same way as he. Yes, he loved this young girl who could find no flaw in him, and despite the fact that neither he nor she could define their relationship, he knew that she loved him too. In what way they loved each other would remain to be seen, and would defy a label for now, but they were both comfortable with the emotional limbo, and neither sought to define it, both could intuit that it simply _was_ this way, _the way it should be._

He knew then that he loved this little girl, deep down. He loved her, because she loved him. He had trusted her, because she trusted him. He would protect her, because she followed him.

"Rin, would you want your children to have those dog ears?" He said it as if to discourage her.

"Oh yes! But… that can't happen! Inuyasha-sama has a mate!"

So she didn't realize? She didn't yet know how those ears had come to be? It was best…for the time being.

"You never know…" he replied slyly. She just gave him a sweetly beguiling smile, while her eyes seemed to hold a wisdom beyond her years.

For the first time she was blushing under the gaze of her lord.


End file.
